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Here's how Apple is taking a bigger bite of the Indian music industry

It might not be a well-known fact but Apple’s Services division is as big as any Fortune 500 company. For almost a dozen or so quarters, the Services business of Apple has shown continuous growth. For the uninitiated, Apple’s Services division includes its Digital Content and Services, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services, including iTunes, the App Store, AppleMusic and iCloud.

| Gadgets Now | Updated: Sep 1, 2018, 05:22PM IST

It might not be a well-known fact but Apple’s Services division is as big as any Fortune 500 company. For almost a dozen or so quarters, the Services business of Apple has shown continuous growth. For the uninitiated, Apple’s Services division includes its Digital Content and Services, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services, including iTunes, the App Store, AppleMusic and iCloud.

While Apple might not be the numero uno when it comes to app download numbers but it sure leads the way in terms of generating revenue from the particular division. Apps have always stayed Apple’s one of the top priorities and this was re-confirmed last year when it overhauled the app store with more information and a cleaner look, all of which later proved to be a move in the right direction as it increased the download numbers significantly. However, there’s more to just changing the cosmetics. You don’t just make it look good and attract users but also expand its reach in more regions and localise it so the customers can relate better.

And recently, Apple briefed Gadgets Now in its Gurugram office, on the efforts it is investing in perfecting the latter. India is a massive market for Apple, not just in terms of hardware but software as well and Apple seems to have its eyes locked on the country.

This not only shows in the firm elevating the country from second to the first tier of regions that get the new iPhones in past couple of years but also how much local content it is showing up on one of its most used streaming platforms - Apple Music. The opening up of the Bengaluru app accelerator and stressing focus on the developers too have shown Apple’s interest in capitalising the most out of the market.

After months of waiting, we finally have the confirmed dates for the 2018 Apple iPhone launch. The Cupertino-based tech firm has sent out media invitation revealing the date when we will be seeing the next-gen iPhone lineup. As it happens every time, Apple is holding the event in the month of September and on the same day as last year. The date, however, is different this year.

Apple Music as a launchpad for first-timers

Apple is streamlining its Music app for new and popular artists in India with a bunch of features, most prominent of which is the Hear it Hear First or HIHF. The section curates and shows all the exclusive titles carried on the platform on a monthly basis.

Qaran Mehta, the music artists who rose to fame with the song 'Tareefan' says Apple Music gave him the required exposure by making it reach a wide audience. “I learnt a lot about Indian musicality working with music directors like Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. With Tareefan, it was risky to include R&B in a Bollywood track but it paid off really well and with Apple Music, it has helped me reached such a wide spectrum of listeners. The Apple Music playlists and charts are my go to lists to know what’s hot right now. It really gives you the pulse of what our audiences are listening to. Even after 3 months of release, Tareefan is still in the top 5 and thats been very encouraging,” says Mehta.

The focus on new music artists also come in the form of New Artist Spotlight that features at least one new artist on a monthly basis with an exclusive release. Kayva Trehan is one such artist who says Apple places titles on the right playlist and the right genre. “Apple Music is very approachable, both from a listener and an artist. It’s a big deal for an independent artist to get on a platform such as this as it truly spotlights the artist and markets the artist really well, placing us on the right charts, in the right genre. For me, the best part is that there is no creative burden. I can be myself and Apple Music will support me through my journey and retain my identity as an artist,” she said.

Trehan launched her single ‘Underscore’ exclusively on Apple Music on August 24, Friday as a part of Here It Here. First initiative.

Apple’s move on tightening its grip in the Indian music industry seems commendable given the fact that the Apple Music platform itself came into life three years ago and is now a home to over 45 million songs with over 50 million subscribers worldwide. The localisation is not caged to bringing the artists into the spotlight but also highlighting different tastes of music from different parts of the country.

If you are one of those who are planning to explore new genres of music or content based on different regions, Apple says it is giving you that facility as well. The streaming service, in addition to playlists like A-List Bollywood, which is a compilation of all the Indian Bollywood hit songs, shows A-List Tamil and A-List Punjabi catering to the local market.

Even the radio stations are localised with as many as 14 of them dedicated to different languages like Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Bengali. These stations also have a spread of music titles across different eras - 90s Bollywood Radio, Telugu Romance and Hindustani Classical are some of them.

Talking about spreading its wings in different regions in India, Apple last month clubbed with popular singer and musician A.R Rahman’s Music school KMMC to setup a mac OS Lab in Chennai. The lab aims to teach students how to create music using Logic Pro X on Mac desktops. A new Mac lab is soon to be set up in Mumbai.

Apple Music’s early inroads in the industry are not something you may see with its rivals lately. Airtel’s Wynk, Amazon Prime Music, Saavn and other top players are yet to bring elements similar such as Hear It Here. First or New Artist Spotlight that are aiming to make Apple Music a one-stop platform for new and old artists across different regions to showcase their music and get the right audience along with their fair share of encouragement and recognition. While others are focussing on delivering more songs and widening their catalogue, folks are Apple Music surely have some more tricks up its sleeve (in iOS 12) to stay ahead of the curve.

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